“Afloat” Image. Ceres Gallery. New York. Solo Show.

A plane landing on water. At night.

Almost a week ago, I had sinus surgery. The doctor “ordered” it pretty quickly. Was good because I did not have too much time to worry about it. He told me it would be in my best interest to get the procedure done, and since the three of us had already planned to attend a college interview for our daughter eight hours away, we were hurling down a super scary highway at night. We left at night because I attended an art opening of a group show I was in. The interview the next day, then back home after another eight hour scary ride. I started to get ready.

Two days later, I was on the operating table. Pretty uneventful except for the anesthesiologist. He was interesting.

He told me he loved being the calm one in chaos. I almost pointed out (and this was before the relaxing drip started blurring my thoughts) that my painting, which hovers between abstraction and figuration always has a grid or structure behind the abstraction to anchor it. And to calm people down when they experience the painted turbulence. But I didn’t go into this. He seemed very “normal.” And I did not want to come off as offbeat in such a tense, for me, out-of-control situation. Hairnet on and all my defenses down.

He told me he went to Georgia Tech to become a Scientific Engineer. Then went to medical school and became a Marine in the Special Forces. He performed his duty as an anesthesiologist while hearing bombs fly over and strike near his base in Iraq.

The structural grid I put in my paintings to still the abstracted motion does not compare to his calm amid chaos. Still, I felt a connection.